ABSTRACT
Ulva prolifera, an intertidal macroalga, has to adapt to wide variations in light intensity, making this species particularly rewarding for studying the evolution of photoprotective mechanisms. Intense light induced increased non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and stimulated de-epoxidation of xanthophyll cycle components, while DTT-treated samples had lower NPQ capacity, indicating that the xanthophyll cycle must participate in photoprotection. In this work, we found that the PsbS-related NPQ was maintained in U. prolifera. According to analysed gene expression, both LhcSR and psbS were up-regulated in high light, suggesting that these two genes are light-induced. LHCSR and PsbS proteins were present at different light intensities and accumulated under high light conditions, and PsbS concentrations were higher than LHCSR, showing that the NPQ mechanism of U. prolifera is more dependent on PsbS protein concentration. Moreover, the level of both LHCSR and PsbS proteins was high even in the darkness, and neither the transcript level nor protein content of LhcSR and psbS genes varied significantly following short-term exposure to intense light. These findings suggest that this alga can modulate NPQ levels through regulation of the xanthophyll cycle and concentrations of PsbS and/or LHCSR.
Subject(s)
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes/metabolism , Photosystem II Protein Complex/metabolism , Ulva/physiology , Algal Proteins/genetics , Algal Proteins/metabolism , Amino Acid Sequence , DNA, Algal/chemistry , DNA, Algal/genetics , DNA, Complementary/chemistry , DNA, Complementary/genetics , Darkness , Light , Light-Harvesting Protein Complexes/genetics , Molecular Sequence Data , Photosynthesis/physiology , Photosystem II Protein Complex/genetics , Sequence Alignment , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Stress, Physiological , Ulva/genetics , Ulva/radiation effects , Xanthophylls/metabolismABSTRACT
Chemical compositions in tea leaves are influenced by their growing surrounding, and the content of these components are related to the quality of teas. The determination of the concentration of chemical composition in teas will predict the ranking of teas and indicate the geographical origins. This overview concerns an investigation of analytical methods that are being used for the determination of the geographical origin of tea. The analytical approaches have been subdivided into three groups: spectroscopic techniques, chromatographic techniques, and other techniques. The advantages, drawbacks, and reported applications concerning geographical authenticity are discussed.
Subject(s)
Camellia sinensis/chemistry , Food Inspection/methods , Tea/chemistry , Camellia sinensis/growth & development , Plant Leaves/chemistry , Plant Leaves/growth & developmentABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the significance of some clinical parameters related to neonatal 'swimming' (water therapy) during hospitalization. METHODS: Normal newborns were randomly divided into two groups to observe their birth weight, weight before discharge,time of first defecation and meconium turning yellow. Group one was the swimming (study) group, comprising a total of 223 newborns including 127 babies delivered after spontaneous vaginal delivery and 96 babies after Cesarean section. Group two was the bathing (control) group, comprising 154 newborns including 109 babies delivered after spontaneous vaginal delivery and 45 babies after Cesarean section. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in birth weight between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, the mean weight before discharge of the babies in the study group was 3.29 + 0.35 and 3.51 + 0.40 kg, spontaneous vaginal delivery vs. Cesarean section, compared with 3.09 + 0.38 and 3.17 + 0.48 kg, respectively, in the control group (p < 0.01). The corresponding mean times of meconium turning yellow were 39.15 + 15.88 and 39.02 + 13.60 h in the study group compared with 48.01 + 19.42 and 55.67 + 25.05 h in the control group. This difference was significant (p < 0.01), as was the difference between the time of first defecation (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Neonatal swimming can accelerate babies' growth in the early stage.
Subject(s)
Hydrotherapy , Infant, Newborn/physiology , Obstetrics/methods , Swimming , Baths , Cesarean Section , Color , Defecation , Delivery, Obstetric/methods , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn/growth & development , Male , Meconium/physiology , Time Factors , Weight GainABSTRACT
A capillary electrophoresis method was developed for the separation and determination of tropane alkaloids in Flos daturae plants. Separation was performed on a fused silica capillary(42.1 cm x 50 microm i.d.) at an applied voltage of 20 kV. Scopolamine, atropine and anisodamine were well separated in the buffer of 50 mmol/L phosphate buffer (pH 5.0) containing 20% (v/v) tetrahydrofuran (THF). Beer's law was obeyed in the range of concentration of 2.4-21.8 microg/mL for scopolamine, 4.0-36.0 microg/mL for atropine and 2.6-23.7 microg/mL for anisodamine, respectively, and the correlation coefficients were over 0.999 (n = 6). The developed method was applied for the analysis of herb samples.